Description

This conference is held every two years and has traditionally enjoyed participation from government, university, and industrial scientists. The past conferences have been dominated by the science of crop protection, i.e., pest control, disease control, and weed control. In 1999 our conference theme was "Genomics in Crop Production." We brought many new faces into the conference, and we will continue moving with the "Frontiers of Science" in 2001. Participation is sought for oral presentations, poster presentations, and discussion leaders. Poster sessions are independent of the oral presentations

The theme chosen for 2001 is "Diversity Exploration in Agricultural Sciences." This theme should be taken in the context of exploring diversity in organisms, genetics, chemistry, and in approaches to address agricultural problems.

Topics:

Diversity in Opinion of the Safety of GMOs (one 2 hour session)

Modification of the genetics of crops has been the major method of increasing crop yield and quality. Yet the advent of plant transformation has resulted in new questioning of the safety and wisdom of this approach. Why does the public accept genetic modification through plant breeding while questioning genetic modification through transformation?

New Chemistries & Targets (morning and evening sessions, 3 hours ea.)

While much attention has focused on new approaches, agricultural chemicals remain the basis for crop protection. Modern chemistry has generated an unprecedented chemical diversity for exploration. Genomics has generated a equal diverse set of targets for exploration.

Signal Perception (morning and evening sessions, 3 hours ea.)

The mechanics of signal perception and responses are now understood in unprecedented detail. This session will cover the new science and innovative applications in signal perception and gene switching.

Agriculture sciences have benefited from incorporating new tools and approaches. From the application of phage display to virus-mediated antisense, this session will cover some cutting edge developments that will increase the range and speed of future discoveries.

The range of traits addressed in ag sciences has expanded, and the science of incorporating new traits has developed. Industry, academic, and government agency scientists will present an amazing array of topics at this session.